Seasider78
Well-known member
- Nov 14, 2004
- 6,023
Plenty of clubs got great academies and talent scouting but not all of them got managers willing to give these players a chance. In Swansea they had had a category 1 academy for several years when Potter came, but not really used it at all. One year with Potter and about 10 players had established themselves in the first team squad with James, McBurnie and Rodon bringing in £50m to the club as well as saving money on not having to sign a bunch of players to replace the outgoings all the time.
In Östersund they had no real academy but scouted a lot of young players. GP spent about a total of £1m in transfers over there, later selling those players for a total of £10m.
In both cases while having his clubs perform to or above expectations. Little indicates that it will be much different with Brighton. Yes, the club has spent some money but the increase in squad value is a lot more than the spenditure. The £85m or so spent over the last two seasons will likely pay itself back just through sales of Bissouma and White. And if that happens there's still Sanchez, Lamptey, Webster and so on that would turn it into a profit.
Of course this is going to be very tempting for a lot of clubs to get that kind of economical value out of a manager while still keeping its ground or even advancing results wise. Far too many managers are afraid of the mistakes that young players are inevitably going to do and just keep buying players instead but I think more and more owners - even the very rich ones - is getting a bit tired of spending lots of money on what often turns out to be random value. Especially as income in football from TV deals, competitions and commerce looks like its close to have reached some sort of ceiling.
Potter is a manger who bloods youngsters no doubting that just some of the top clubs don’t need that as they just buy the finished article. That attitude may change over time as finances come under more pressure but no sign of that changing at the top table at the moment.
For us if Potter left we would need to find another manager who has the same ethos as ultimately the academy and development system at that Albion has bought white, bissouma and Sanchez into a position Potter can consider them for selection and all of those signings pre date his arrival. You are right that type of manager are not as common to find but the foundations of the club in this area are strong and with someone of the quality of Ashworth at the helm I am sure another manager would be well served with young talent.
That’s not to say I want Potter gone I don’t but at the moment feels like a bit of a match made in heaven and if he moved to one of the bigger boys where the demands are far greater the opportunities to experiment are limited alongside the pressures of competing for major trophies